2009 Tokyo Motor Show Opens With Focus on Electric Cars

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Tokyo October 21, 2009; Japan Today reported that the Tokyo Motor Show
opened to the press Wednesday as Japanese automakers roll out their new
concepts for nifty, fully-electric vehicles in a testament to the imminent
arrival of the long-awaited dream car.

With no high-profile foreign players present and even domestic truck
makers pulling out on the back of the severe economic downturn, visitors
will likely miss the glitz and glamour customary at most of the
world’s biggest auto shows.

But as in the past, Japanese carmakers showcase a variety of quirky,
futuristic vehicles with even more emphasis on environmentally-friendly
cars as the global economic crisis accelerates the shift away from
gasoline-powered vehicles.

The 41st Tokyo Motor Show, which will officially open to the wider
public from Saturday, features 39 world premiers, compared with 71 in the
previous auto show in 2007, with less than half the floor space.

A record-low 108 companies take part, including just three foreign
exhibitors—Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH of Germany, and Group
Lotus plc and Caterham Cars of Britain.

While gas-electric hybrids are the current buzzword in the flagging
Japanese auto market, the key focus of this year’s show is on
zero-emission EVs, which have repeatedly failed in the past to become
mainstream amid lingering high manufacturing costs and lack of
infrastructure.

Nissan Motor Co is unveiling its fully-electric, medium-sized family
sedan—the ‘‘Leaf’‘—to the public for
the first time.

Japan’s third-largest automaker is also revealing a two-seater
electric vehicle concept—the Land Glider—with a cocoon-like
body that can tilt up to 17 degrees as it goes around corners like a
motorcycle.

Rivals like Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co, both enjoying booming
demand for the Prius and Insight hybrids, are also preparing to enter the
EV market while broadening their lineup of hybrid models.

Toyota, which plans to launch an EV in 2012, is displaying its
full-electric 2.7-meter-long vehicle—FT-EV II—which is more
compact than its ultra-mini iQ car.

Honda, long a skeptic in EVs and a proponent of fuel-cell cars, is also
shifting course with President Takanobu Ito saying the company will launch
fully electric cars not only in the United States, but also in Japan and
Europe.

Japan’s second-largest automaker is taking the wraps off an
urban-use, small electric car—the EV-N—donning a retro, square
look.

In addition to EVs, Honda is showing a near-ready version of its
two-seater CR-Z sports car hybrid and a six-seater hybrid—the Honda
Skydeck—with scissor-like front doors and sliding rear doors.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Motors Corp, the manufacturer of the
‘‘i-MiEV’’ electric vehicle now on sale to
corporate users, is taking the wraps off a sport utility vehicle plug-in
hybrid concept, the PX-MiEV and the i-MiEV Cargo, which provides greater
luggage space than the egg-shaped hatchback EV.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, the maker of the Subaru brand and the Subaru
Plug-in Stella, is exhibiting the Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept with a power
train combining both its signature boxer engine and a hybrid system.

Other automakers are opting to stay with brushed-up conventional
technology, like Mazda Motor Corp, which is displaying a
‘‘Kiyora’’ concept compact car using its world
premier next-generation gasoline engine and automatic transmission to
achieve fuel efficiency of 32 kilometers per liter.

Daihatsu Motor Co is also exhibiting a concept model of its four-seater
minivehicle—the e:S—with fuel economy of 30 km per liter using
an existing platform and lighter materials.

As domestic automakers struggle to keep the paling Japanese market
relevant amid a declining population and dwindling interest in cars among
the young generation, Toyota is also hoping to breathe life into the market
by going back to the roots of fun and exciting-to-drive cars.

The world’s largest automaker is unveiling a lighter and
environmentally-friendly compact sports car concept—the
FT-86—which draws its inspiration from the carmaker’s 1980s
Corolla Levin sports coupe, the AE86. It is also taking the wraps off the
concept model of its two-seat Lexus sports car.

The biannual show, which runs through Nov 4 at the Makuhari Messe
convention center on the outskirts of Tokyo, aims to attract 1 million
visitors, with new programs like test rides of latest vehicles and
motorcycles, but the target falls far short of the 1.43 million visitors in
the previous event.